It’s time to say farewell to this year’s Nebula Awards weekend, following our lunch with Aimee Ogden and dinner with Curtis C. Chen.

This episode you’ll be able to eavesdrop on my lunch with Benjamin Rosenbaum, who’s been published in The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction, Asimov’s Science Fiction, Harper’s, Nature, McSweeney’s Quarterly Concern, and many other venues, and as a result has been nominated for the Hugo, Nebula, BSFA, Sturgeon, and World Fantasy Awards. He’s the author of the short story collection The Ant King and Other Stories, and the Ennie-nominated Jewish historical fantasy tabletop roleplaying game Dream Apart.

His most recent novel is The Unraveling (2021), which first appeared in Germany three years earlier. The Ghost and the Golem, his 480,000-word Jewish historical fantasy interactive novel set amidst the pogroms of 1881, was a Nebula Award nominee in the category of Game Writing that weekend, so as you listen, you can think of Benjamin as Schrödinger’s nominee, existing in a state of many possibilities at once. He is also the co-host of the podcast Mohanraj and Rosenbaum Are Humans.

We discussed the perhaps true/perhaps whimsical reason he ended up in the science fiction field rather than literary publishing, why the story he found the most difficult to sell became his most-read work, how he gamified the submission/rejection process to get into Clarion, the way all stories set in the future are being read in translation, the reason he couldn’t write for a while after his first Nebula nomination, the moral and aesthetic reasons the story of Ghost and the Golem ended up as a game rather than a novel, why he believes “I am very much a child of Chip Delany,” the fascinating differences between the German and English versions of his novel The Reckoning, the intricacies of turning games into novels and novels into movies, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for seafood at Earl’s Premier — (more…)

Only six more days until the Seattle Worldcon, and while I’m still busy finalizing my unofficial activities — such as my donut runs and the meals over which I’ll record episodes of Eating the Fantastic — the official programming is locked down.

Here’s where you’ll be able to find me pontificating —

Welcome to Worldcon
Wednesday, August 13, 1:30–2:30 p.m., Room 345-346
Welcome to the Welcome to Worldcon panel, where we will answer your questions, make loads of suggestions, and be generally helpful. Worldcon has a lot to see and do, and some of us try to do it all. We will share tips on how to attend the con without wiping out, whether you’re new to cons or have been going to cons for years. We’ll explain the importance of the 5-2-1 rule… err, guideline. Extroverts, introverts, and everyone in between are all welcome.
with Laurie Mann (M) and Sarah Gulde

The Comics Code Authority Panel
Wednesday, August 13, 6:00–7:00 p.m., Room 345-346
The Comics Code Authority was created as a way for the comics industry to police itself and its content. While it’s no longer used, its impact was felt for decades. Let’s talk about the creative choices companies had to make in order to comply with the code and the developments in comics since the code was dropped.
with Ada Palmer (M), Rev. Randy Smith, Selena A. Naumoff, and Tia Tashiro

Coping With Short Story Rejection
Thursday, August 14, 10:30–11:30 a.m., Room 431-432
This panel presents a deep dive into the grueling process of submitting short stories and how to stay organized, sane, and happy. Panelists will not only discuss their personal experiences being rejected, but what led them to finally being accepted in a short story market. Hints, tips, and tricks on how to get your story out of the slush pile.
with Victoria N. Shi (M), Rachael K. Jones, Sam Asher, and Sheila Williams

Autographs
Thursday, August 14, 4:30–5:30 p.m., Garden Lounge (3F)
The listed creators are available to sign autographs this hour.
with Brenda Cooper, Irene Radford, Neil Clarke, P.L. Stuart, Patrick S. Tomlinson, Robin Jeffrey, S. A. Chant, Salinee Goldenberg, Sarah J. Daley, Sarah Pinsker, Gregory A. Wilson, and Kat Richardson<

Are Podcasts the New Fanzines?
Thursday, August 14, 7:30–8:30 p.m., Room 345-346
Back in the day, many fans would “pub their ish,” producing fanzines and APA zines to share with friends and readers they’d never even met. Now, there seems to be more energy put into podcast production. Fan editors and podcast producers talk about what’s the same about their productions and what’s different.
with Sam Stark (M), Kat Kourbeti, Luke Elliott, and Michael Ireland

The World of Spec Fiction Podcasts
Friday, August 15, 10:30–11:30 a.m., Room 321
This panel explores the dynamic landscape of creating and sustaining speculative fiction podcasts. From crafting captivating narratives to engaging with listeners, panelists will share insights, strategies, and challenges in producing content that transports audiences to fantastical realms. Topics will include storytelling techniques tailored for audio, building and nurturing a dedicated fanbase, collaborating with authors and voice actors, and navigating the evolving podcasting industry.
with Alex Kingsley (M), Michael Ireland, Natania Barron, and Stefan Rudnicki

Table Talks
Saturday, August 16, 10:30–11:30 a.m., Room 430
Have an intimate discussion (up to six participants) with your favorite creators. Space is limited, advance sign-up required.
with Michael Ravine, Rebecca Roanhorse, Luis Carlos Barragán Castro, and Dan Moren

I hope to see you there!

Rereading my mid-’70s run of Captain Marvel teaches me why I should never have been writing comics in the first place — but it also causes me to reminisce about how I rescued Rick Jones from the Negative Zone, the way the success of Crazy Rich Asians caused Captain Marvel reshoots, the travesty of the Teen Brigade’s return, George Tuska’s unseen Wonder Man, why I believe in back-shadowing, not foreshadowing, and more.

You can eavesdrop on all those memories via the embed below or download them at the site of your choice.

Here are several images which illustrate some of the topics I touched on during the episode —

What AI got wrong about me and Stan Lee

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Last episode kicked off a run of Nebula Awards weekend conversations as you joined Aimee Ogden for lunch, and now our time together in Kansas City continues as you head out to dinner with Curtis C. Chen.

Curtis C. Chen’s debut novel Waypoint Kangaroo (which was a 2017 Locus Awards and Endeavour Award Finalist) is the first in a series of funny science fiction spy thrillers. That was followed by Kangaroo Too (which received a starred review from Publishers Weekly) and True Blue Kangaroo (a Smashwords bestseller for three months running). From 2008 to 2013, he posted a new flash fiction piece every Friday on a blog called “512 Words or Fewer.” 117 of those very short stories were collected in the book Thursday’s Children. His shorter works have appeared in Playboy, the ENNIE Award-winning Kobold Guide to Roleplaying, The Year’s Best Fantasy: Volume 2, Aliens vs. Predators: Ultimate Prey, and elsewhere.

He has written for the Realm original podcasts Echo Park, Ninth Step Murders, and Machina. His homebrew cat feeding robot was displayed in the “Worlds Beyond Here” exhibit at Seattle’s Wing Luke Museum. He is a graduate of the Clarion West and Viable Paradise writers’ workshops.

We discussed how he discovered Star Trek through the bars of his crib, how the super spystar of his Kangaroo trilogy was born, what it was like being critiqued by Pat Murphy and Ursula K. Le Guin when he was starting out, how taking voice acting lessons kickstarted his desire to write, the way to tell when it’s time to quit your day job (or not), how his nearly five-years-long flash fiction story-a-week project began, his creative solution for referencing the 20th century in his future series, an intriguing exercise for writers when watching TV shows based on the written word, why he went indie for the third book in his series, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for BBQ at Buck Tui — (more…)

In the flesh and blood world, I’m about to head off for Readercon, but in the world of Eating the Fantastic, it’s instead the Nebula Awards weekend that’s about to begin, with the first of three conversations recorded last month in Kansas City.

My guest this episode is Aimee Ogden, whose short fiction has appeared in publications such as Lightspeed, Fantasy, Analog, Clarkesworld, and Beneath Ceaseless Skies. Her debut novella, “Sun-Daughters, Sea-Daughters”, was a 2021 Nebula Finalist, and just this year, she was once again a Nebula finalist for the novelette “What Any Dead Thing Wants.” Also, her short story “A Flower Cannot Love the Hand” was a finalist for the Eugie Foster Memorial Award in 2022. Her latest novella, “Starstruck,” was released in June She’s also is the co-founder, co-publisher, and former co-editor of Translunar Travelers Lounge, a speculative fiction magazine devoted to fun, optimistic stories.

We discussed the YA novel origins of her new novella and the way a watermelon radish gave birth to them both, whether we agree which of her characters therein will captivate readers the most, why she believes in “productive procrastination,” how having twins counterintuitively helped rather than hindered her writing output, our opposing views on plotting vs. pantsing, the Bible story she can’t stop thinking about, how she chooses the next best thing to write, her secret to writing successful flash fiction, how she was able to carry on in the face of rejection, why being an editor helped her become a better writer, which Ursula K. Le Guin quote she chose as a tattoo, and much more.

Here’s how you can join us for BBQ at Jack Stack Freight House — (more…)